CR1 interview

[LebaneseMama 1]

OK I was reading everything going on with kiya (I am so sorry sister ... lets just hope this your naseeb and there is a reason for all this) and am kinda freaking out. Do CR1 interviews also have to have all that evidence ? We are married and have a marriage certificate. What should Ali take with him to the interview ??? Pictures of us kissing ? Although that is haram in Islam for anyone to see ... but we can bend the rules to prove that we are a couple. He has photo albums .. but Im the one that has the phone bills. Should I send them to him ? And we don't hardly ever talk on the internet (the five times that we have I have the convos saved for me .. not immigration .. but I can send them to him as well). What else ? Love notes .. cards ... seriously ? We are married !!! LOL. Thanks for any help

[jennieh 0]

I dont know if you need it but I want my husband to bring it with so they cant deny him or accuse him of something stupid. I bought this thing at walmart for about $2 thats like a book and you can put papers in it and it has folders in it. Its really organized and I put in it phone bills, pictures, airplane ticket stubs, passport pages (entrance/exit stamps) pictures with eachothers family, and im trying right now to make my husband understand how important it is he takes this to the interview with him. Along with the wedding photos, and dvd along with the other stuff. He did admit he really liked my idea but now its getting him serious about proving our relationship at the interview. Thats what I have thought of so far but i dont know what else or what others have taken.

[morocco4ever 63]

Have him take everything! More than likely they won't even ask to see it, but if they do you will have it. If you don't have it then they will probably give you the 221g for more proof, and a longer wait. Why take the chance?

[~kiyah~ 14]

My naseeb...insh'allah it does not end up being cursed but a blessed naseeb!

In regards to photos...I am with you sister, but believe me it is worth it to have the proof. We have 300 photos of us together and with family, only a couple of us kissing which we are the only 2 who have seen those photos. My SO and I are going to be taking many more photos and making videos of us together this time when I go to Morocco...we want them to see us interact with each other, and not just on paper and in photos. If we happen to kiss in the video...then so be it. It is worth more to us to bend the rules if it helps us be together like we deserve.

Have him take the photo albums...provide every single phone bill outlining your phone calls to him. ALL letters, emails and any other solid proof of your relationship. If your families have corresponded between each other, inlcude those letters/emails...any birthday cards, love notes, every single piece of evidence you have can back up your relationship.

Honestly I have not heard of petitions being sent back and/or denied in Lebanon like what is happening in Morocco right now so you are probably going to be just fine. It is a good idea to be prepared however...for anything they can throw at you.

Relax sister, you will be fine. May Allah keep you safe.

~Kiya~

[UmmSqueakster 54]

All pictures of my husband and I kissing etc stay on our computer, never to see the light of day Ah, the wonders of a digital camera.

I would say lots of pictures of you guys with family would be good. Especially coming from the middle eastern family oriented culture, family pictures indicate at least some tacite family approval that the relationship is real and out in the open.

Do ya'll have wedding pictures? That would be good too. Proof of any wedding related purchases - rings, wedding type dresses, other things that indicate a marriage in Lubnan.

I don't know, we did K-1 through Egypt and didn't have nearly as much evidence as everyone else, and we made it just fine. Looking back though, we probably should have erred on the side of caution and had my DH bring everything but the kitchen sink.

[farah2005 0]

hi

when i had my CR 1 interview i took all the pictures before and after marriage ,printed e mails , and greeting cards that he and his parent send me ,printed skype calls as we didn t have any phone bills .

the interviewer asked me to show him our pictures where we met .

[MaryandMian 1]

My husband interviewed on our CR1 in Pakistan. He took our wedding photos, cards from me and kids, emails back to 2003, phone landline bills, and a few bills with his name on them in the USA and they barely looked at them. But I recommend that you take everything you can just to show proof. I hope you have smooth experience once you get your interview.

** I scanned the phone bills and he printed them off his email account before his interview. I mailed him packages and he kept all this for evidence. **

Mary

[kerewin21 2]

DEFINITELY send evidence of your phone calls (calling cards are not good enough, they should actually show calls to your husband's phone). I know it sounds dumb to change your relationship for the sake of immigration, but if I were you I'd start sending some emails back and forth, just a few, so you have another kind of communication documented, and chatting on IM with logs if possible. My fiance and I did this just to have more evidence, but it was actually kind of fun to mix it up a little.

Anything your husband has sent you should be brought with him to his interview. Lots of pictures of the two of you together, and also of you with his family if possible; that seemed to be what did it in our case.

Being married doesn't always seem to be enough proof for these people, so err on the side of caution!

Sharon

[AngelK96 0]

I know in jordan they wanted proof of the relationship after you were married, so start compiling your evidence and send it to your husband, and about your concern with the pictures showing you kissing, remember you are not going thru an islamic embassy but an american embassy and you are married.

Angel

[honeyblonde 0]

I put about 75 pictures of us (including the engagement ceremony with the milk and dates and exchange of rings), mounted on sheets with captions, in our I129F package, as well as a chat log showing that we had talked all but about 5 days since we met. I also put copies of postcards from the caves we toured, a menu I had him sneak out of our favorite restaurant, Train ticket receipts, ATM receipts, food receipts, airline ticket stubs, etc.

Abdel said the man had the I129F package in front of him when he called him up to interview him and he was smiling at him when he got there. He also wore his engagement ring and had the backpack and CD player I had sent to him for his birthday with him. He also had a package of about 300 pictures with him if they asked for them.

I didn't plan to have pictures of us kissing, but his family seemed to always catch us when we were trying to steal a moment alone, so I figured they wouldn't hurt. Abdel said that when he showed our pictures to his friends the first thing they always said was that anybody who saw them would have no doubt we were in love.

We didn't really have any problems getting Abdel's visa, but then again, that was during Ramadan when they seemed to give them out like candy. With Morocco, I honestly don't think it matters much, but who knows. Maybe there is some red flag list and somehow it has been being tripped a lot lately. It would be nice to know what is going on, but I'm sure they aren't going to tell us.

[~Jess~ 0]

Is this the inital interview? meaning have you already turned in the I130 and got approved?..............When we filed the I130 in the Embassy here in Lebanon, we had an interview with a man, we had all sorts of pictures and supporting things.....we were married in the states before George was deported.............The man said he didnt need any of that stuff and just interviewd us seperatly........maybe because we are both here he didnt need the stuff..........but pictures are def. a good thing to have as well as letters from family and friends..........goodluck.

[jordanianprincess 0]

I don't think you need to have intimate pictures of each other, instead I think your photos need to show that you really are a married couple. Pictures with families, friends, in various places. Those should all be fine. I think the point is for everything to be natural.

You don't want to overwhelm the officer but you want to be prepared to show what they ask for. My advise would be to take everything you can with you, but do not present it unless its asked for. You should also be organized and quick. I would create a binder and put everthing in tabbed pages. Remember the longer it takes you to find something the more chances they have to ask questions.

I have a story to share. A cousin of mine had applied for a visitor visa in Jordan 3 times and got denied. Although its a different kind of visa, its still the same people and office. She applied 3 times and each time, she would put everything on the counter and present them all the information at one time. Before she could even speak, they would stamp her application denied.

The last time she applied, she had all her paperwork with her but didn't present it to the officer. She waited until he asked for stuff and she got approved. Our attorneys that we work with in my office tell me the same thing.

Jordanian Princess

[amal 4]

at my husbands interview (in Jordan) he took everything imaginable. pictures, cards, letters, more pictures, gifts, phone bills.. you name it, he took it.. they wanted more proof.. They would not accept video.. 2nd interview, he took every chat from the time we met (printed out ) more gifts, more pictures, and was approved... I think its all on the person doing the interviewing that day.